Refrigerator case



March 13, 1934-. v E, FREDERICK 1,950,447

REFRIGERATOR CASE .Filed March 9, 1931 L K41 LJ 5711/] I N V EN TOR. Four/v0 E. .FREQER lc/r,

ATTCRNEY.

Patented Mar. 13, 1934 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR CASE Roland E. Frederick, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor of one-half to William E. Hill, Glenside, Pa.

Application March 9, 1931, Serial No. 521,115

9 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerator cases. In refrigerator cases of the prior art, and particularly those of the top icer type using cooling coils, the circulation of the air has been accompanied by such dehydration as to cause undue shrinkage of the goods in such cases. This dehydration has been due to the more or less rapid circulation of air over goods in the case which air stream is dry and upon contact with the goods, such as meat, absorbs moisture which is deposited in the form of moisture or frost upon the cooling unit and its associated baflies thus dehydrating such circulating air.

It is among the objects of this invention; to provide a refrigerator case in'which the moisture content of the circulating air is maintained at a relatively high point whereby shrinkage of moisture containing materials in the case is substantially diminished; to provide in a refrigerator an improved bafiie so arranged that the circulation of the air is partially through the batfie; to provide a new apparatus and process for by-passing a portion of the warm air stream into the drier cold air stream of a refrigerating case; to provide a refrigerator case with an eflicient cooling system at an economical cost of construetion; and many other objects and advantages as will become more apparent'as the description proceeds.

30 In the accompanying drawing the figure represents a transverse vertical section through the refrigerator case of this invention.

The case comprises broadly the bottom insulated wall 10, the front insulated wall 11, the front window 12, insulated top 13, the service door 14, the insulating back wall 15, and the secondary service door 16. The case is provided with end insulated walls of which but one, number 17, is disclosed. The interior of the case may have the bottom tray 18 suitably disposed on the bottom wall and the adjustable rack 20 arranged to carry goods for display and observation through the front window 12.

Through the instrumentality of brackets 21, 22 45 and 23 a cooling unit 24 is supported in spaced relation to the upper insulated wall 13. The cooling unit 24 is disclosed in dotted lines to represent the unit diagrammatically, but it will be understood to comprise the conventional cooling coils of a refrigerating machine (not shown) or the ice receptacle as may be desired. Suitable brackets 25 attached to the upper wall 13 may be provided to hold the baflles, to be de scribed, in operative association with the cooling 55 unit. Each baflie comprises inner and outer air spaced elements 26 and 27 arranged insubstantial parallelism and each comprising a vertical wall 28 and 30, inclined bottom walls 31 and 32, and having the respective lips or gutters 33 and 34. The two-piece bafiles are arranged in pairs 50 oppositely disposed on each side of the cooling unit so as to form a longitudinal throat 35 between the lower ends of the baflies and the baffies are of prolonged length longitudinally of the case. The inner and outer members 26 and 27 are held in rigid spaced relation by spacing elements 36, or the like, and are so arranged that an air stream may flow downwardly between the inner and outer members thereof throughout substantially their entire length longitudinally of the case. As the lower ends of a pair of bafiles are in laterally spaced relation to provide the throat 35, their respective upper ends are disposed in spaced relationto the upper wall 13 of the case to provide a warm air inlet 37. The inner member 26 has its upper edge 38- elevated above the similar edge of the outer member 37 as shown in the figure in order to trap 01f a'portion of the warm air stream in a manner to be described.

The two parts of each baflle are given a slight inclination toward the end 1'7 of the case and are so arranged that any condensation of moisture collected in the respective gutters of the battles may be discharged into the hopper 40 of a discharge pipe 41 leading to a drip pan 42. A discharge trap 43 and outlet pipe 44 may be provided in the case and may be arranged to receive the discharge from pipe 41. A splash pan 45' may be provided under the cooling unit in a position to overlie the gutters of thebaflie elements, to prevent drippage of moisture on the contents of the case.

It will be understood that in the normal operation of the invention, cooled air passing through and about the cooling unit 24 flows about the edges of the splash pan 45 and through the constricted throat 35 between the pair of baflies and descends toward the bottom of the case. The fall of the cool air is coincident with the rising mo of warmed air up the front and rear walls of the ease toward the warm-air inlets 37. So far as previous practice extended the present two-piece battle of this invention was not known and the "bunker was formed with a single heavily insulated element over which the warm air passed to contact with the cooling unit. In the instant I invention a certain portion of the up-flowing warm air stream passes through the inlet 37 to contact with the'cooling unit 24, thence downa ward through the throat or cold air outlet 35 in the cycle of circulation in the case. As the chilled air passing through throat 35 passes the adjacent ends of the spaced baiile units it exerts, through an injector action, suction on the space between the units of the baflle tending to pull air dowmtherethrough. To facilitate the passage of air downwardly between the spaced elements of the battle, the lip 38 at the upper end of the inner member 26 is arranged, preferably, so as to extend into the warm air stream passing through the inlet. Thus apart of the warm air is trapped off by the lip and, through the suction of the chilled air, is caused to pass downwardly as shown by the arrows between the spaced walls of the bafile.

Aside from the increase of'thermal efi'iciency of the baffle itself, over the conventional baflles, effected as disclosed herein, a decidedly advantageous feature is found in the fact that the inner wall 26 provides a moisture containing surface upon which moisture is deposited during certain stages in the cycle of operations of the case, which moisture is subsequently absorbed by the warm stream passing down through the space between the units of each baflle. In other phases of the cycle of operations of the case, the more or less moisture laden warm air being partially trapped oif and sucked through the elements of the baffle prevents that proportion of the moisture present in the deflected warm air stream from contacting with the cooling unit and thus prevents the complete dehydration of the warm air stream which otherwise would ensue upon its direct contact with the cooling unit 24. Through both of these functional advantages it is found that the descending cold air stream, which has been mixed with an appreciable, either small or large, amount of moisture laden warm air, contains an appreciable percentage of moisture, such as effectually toreduce the shrinkage of meats, and the like, disposed in the case.

Obviously many modifications and refinements may .be made of the invention, as, for instance, that the multiple unit baflle need not be disposed inpairs as disclosed, but may have its inlet and outlet passages formed with relation to walls of the case instead of having its outlet formed with relation to another oppositely disposed battle. Such modifications areto be construed as within the scope of this invention unless otherwise specifically limited in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerating case, a cooling unit, a batlle in spaced relation to said case and to said cooling unit, the case and baijlie defining a warm air inlet, said baille having a passage leading from a point beside the cooling unit to a point substantially beneath the cooling unit for bypassing warm air into the stream emerging from the cooling unit.

2. In a refrigerating case, a cooling unit, a baille comprised of inner and outer spaced members arranged in juxtaposition to said cooling unit, the inner member having a lip extending above the outer member, the bafile so arranged relative to the case as to have the upper end of the baille define a warm air inlet, means directing a chilled air stream past the lower part of the space between the elements of the baflle to create suction on said space and to cause a by-passing of a warm air stream over the baille.

3. In refrigerators, a casing, a baflle means disposed in the casing having a vertical portion in spaced relation to the casing, said portion comprised of inner and outer spaced sheet metal elements, a cooling unit in laterally spaced relation to the baflle means and forming with said means a channellfor the passage of the major portion of the cyclic stream of moisture laden air traveling over said baflie, said spaced elements of the baflle comprising a separate relatively narrow channel for isolating and by-passing a minor stream'of moisture laden air'to a point below the cooling unit, said baflle having adjacent discharge means for said streams, whereby to cause admixture of moisture laden air with the major stream of partially dried air as it issues from said cooling means.

4. In refrigerators, a casing, a vertical wall terminating in vertically spaced relation to said casing to form an air inlet, a second vertical wall disposed in laterally spaced substantially parallel relation to the first and having its upper end terminating in closer spaced relation to the casing to form a lip extending into the inlet defined by the first wall, and-also forming an inlet passage, a cooling unit in the casing laterally spaced from the said second wall to which air passing over said second wall may pass;

5; The method of controlling the properties of moisture laden air circulating within a refrigerator case, which comprises the steps of dividing the circulating air adjacent the cooling unit into major and minor streams, directing the major stream over thecooling unit, isolating the minor stream from the major stream, and uniting the minor stream with the major stream the. latter leaves the cooling unit.

6. The method of controlling the moisture content of air circulating within a refrigerator case, which comprises the steps of dividing the circulating moisture laden air adjacent the cooling unit into major and minor streams, directing the major stream over and through the cooling unit, whereby the moisture content of said stream is materially reduced, isolating the minor moisture laden'stream from the major stream, and directing the former to a point below the cooling unit, whereby the circulation of the 120 minor stream is accelerated and united with the major stream by syphonic action created by the latter stream.

s 7. In a refrigerating case, a cooling unit, a

baflle mounted adjacent to the cooling unit and extending parallel thereto and comprised of spaced members having an-inlet mouth substantially parallel to the cooling unit, means for guiding ascending warm air past the mouth of said baflle and subsequently to the cooling unit, means for guiding descending air successively past the upper and lower members of the bafile, said means so arranged as to secure admixture of warm air entering the mouth of the baflle with thedescending airstream. e

8. In combination, a cooling unit, a bafi'le mounted beneath the cooling unit and comprised of upper and lower sheet metal members disposed in spaced relation with contiguous portions substantially parallel, the sheet metal members hav- 1,40 ing inlet mouths disposed laterally of the cooling unit, an outlet for the upper member spaced from the inlet, through which descending cold air is arranged to pass from the cooling unit, the lower member having an outlet spaced from the inlet mouth through which both descending cold air from the cooling unit and descending moist air by-passed through the inlet are arranged to pass for circulation in the case.

9. In refrigerators, a casing, means in the cas- 1,50

ing defining a chamber for products to be cooled, means defining in the casing an air chilling compartment, a refrigerating unit in said compartment, means separating the chamber and compartment comprising a double walled bafile ex-' tending transversely beneath the refrigerating unit and comprising a conduit, said bafile having a normally open inlet communicating with the air chilling compartment and having a normally open outlet communicating with said chamber,

ROLAND E. FREDERICK. 

